Finding faith in job loss

Thursday

Few people can find anything positive in losing a job. Rich Jensen, however, says he’s found a jewel in job loss.

Don’t get him wrong. Jensen has had plenty of discouragement and depression since he was laid off from his job as a pastor more than two years ago.

But to Jensen, the long-term unemployment has given him a new perspective on his faith and a desire to help others going through the same difficult time in their lives.

“Sometimes the best things that can happen to us is a journey,” said Jensen, a father of two who lives in East Rockhill. “That is the jewel in job loss that God has shown me.”

Jensen is author of “Finding the Jewel in Job Loss: Walking by Faith in Unemployment,” which was published in April by Christian book publisher CLC Publications in Fort Washington.

More than 6.3 million Pennsylvanians were looking for work in August, which translated to an unemployment rate of 8.2 percent. The unemployment rate in Bucks County was 7.9 percent in July, the most recent figure available.

Jensen said he was prepared to lose his job as an associate pastor for an Upper Bucks Baptist church. He said he was told about four months in advance that it could occur, due to declining donations from members who themselves were feeling the strain from a weakening economy. He was laid off in March 2009.

“What I wasn’t prepared for was, even on that first day, the emotional and spiritual challenges,” he said. “I was beating myself up.”

Depression and discouragement set in. Since federal law exempts houses of worship from paying unemployment taxes, Jensen wasn’t receiving any paycheck at all. As sole breadwinner for his family — his wife is a stay-at-home mom and home schools their two children — the pressure was immense, Jensen said. He did receive severance from the church.

“I did question why,” he said. “I questioned my path in life. Was I really called to be a pastor if it was taken away?”

But Jensen said he never questioned his faith, and in his time of crisis he turned to the Bible for solace and advice.

“I believe the Bible is 100 percent true,” Jensen said. “It’s the guide for how we are to live. So that’s where I went back.”

Jensen says he believes in two main principles: God is in control of all things, and God is good. He does what he can to find new employment, and leaves the rest up to God.

“You can’t sit back and expect God to drop it all on your plate,” he said. “But you can’t do it all on your own, either.”

A friend recommended that Jensen start a blog to detail his thoughts on Scripture and job loss. His blog posts later became the basis for his book.

Jensen realizes that people who don’t share his faith may not understand the Scripture he quotes in his book. But he believes they, too, could find comfort in its words and in the belief that there’s a higher power directing their lives.

“It doesn’t take the pain away,” he said. “But it gives you perspective.”

Over the past two years, Jensen, 40, has made ends meet with savings, severance from the church and a small commission he earns selling Aflac insurance policies.

“It’s still a form of unemployment,” Jensen said of his Aflac job. “What we offer is a supplemental, and that’s what people are cutting out.”

Jensen said the extended joblessness has given new meaning to “give us this day our daily bread.” But it’s also been a valuable learning experience for his family, which has drastically scaled down its spending.

“We can be content on a lot less than what we thought,” he said.

And Jensen’s hopeful his unemployment is nearing an end. He’s under consideration for a job at another Baptist church in Upper Bucks. It’s a small church, and the position will be part time. But Jensen is excited to lead a congregation again, and he believes his experience has made him a stronger pastor.

“This has so much more further prepared me to come alongside and be an encouragement, to provide perspective and Biblical principles to help people through their trials,” he said. “You understand the pain. Sometimes what we need is someone who understands.”

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